


In the Beginning

by mrichar7



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:53:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25643107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrichar7/pseuds/mrichar7
Summary: The day was sweltering, and no shade was offered at the center of the clearing. The shorter cut grass was beginning to die here, beaten down by the sun and feet running here and there. The only respite from the sun was the breeze, and Jannah accepted it gratefully. She sat cross legged on the grass in the clearing, keeping her mind free of all thoughts other than the pleasantness of the occasional wind.She smiled serenely as she meditated, a gust of wind blowing through her dark curls and pushing her hair away from her face. Nothing could break her peace.“Jannie!”Well, except for that.An in-universe/alternate universe Star Wars story.In the Beginning is the story of how the Jedi began, told with our favorite characters from the sequel trilogy. I like to imagine that even a thousand years before Rey and Ben are born, Reylo is still alive and well. Enjoy!
Relationships: Kaydel Ko Connix & Jannah, Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	In the Beginning

When they were seven…

In the midday sun of the planet Yersaid, the only sounds that could be heard were that of the wind blowing through the tall grass and catching on the blue and purple leaves in the trees. A change in season was approaching, as illustrated by a scant few leaves breaking off from their branches and scurrying along the ground until they reached the nearby clearing. As the leaves were freed from the confines of the tall, thin grass they blew upwards and over the crest of the hill. 

The day was sweltering, and no shade was offered at the center of the clearing. The shorter cut grass was beginning to die here, beaten down by the sun and feet running here and there. The only respite from the sun was the breeze, and Jannah accepted it gratefully. She sat cross legged on the grass in the clearing, keeping her mind free of all thoughts other than the pleasantness of the occasional wind. 

She smiled serenely as she meditated, a gust of wind blowing through her dark curls and pushing her hair away from her face. Nothing could break her peace.

“Jannie!”

Well, except for that.

“Jannie!” Came an urgent whisper from her right. Jannah pretended not to notice, this was time for meditation, not for fooling around.

“Jannah, Jannah, Jannie…” The voice whispered again, and only the tone of her best friend could break Jannah out of her steady meditative zone. She cracked open one eye and peeked to her right, Rey was splayed out on her stomach. The moment Rey saw that Jannah had responded, a grin spread over her face and she jumped into a crouch closer to her friend.

Rey was dressed the same as Jannah, in their sandy colored summer tunics that resembled bags more than anything. But that was where their comparisons stopped, Rey’s skin was as light as Jannah was dark, with a smattering of freckles across her nose and short brown hair that was tied in the back. Jannah’s hair was too wild to be contained, jumping out from her head like a halo in all directions no matter how many times she tried to brush it down.

“Come on Jannie, let’s go watch.” Rey begged, not bothering to keep her voice low anymore. Jannah snapped her eye shut again, “No way, Rey. It’s meditation time.” Jannah heard Rey’s huff of disappointment and smiled.

“You’re the only one meditating.” Rey pointed out sulkily. Jannah opened her eyes again, this time getting a better look at their surroundings. In their half-alive clearing Jannah and Rey sat with their age class. At this time of day their masters would set them to meditate, and had only recently began to leave them to do it on their own.

“A Guardian must be able to quiet the mind, and avoid all distractions from the outside world when needed. And why must a Guardian quiet their mind?” Master Yuli had asked the group at large.

“To connect with the Force.” The group had responded as a whole. Master Yuli proclaimed them ready to practice on their own, that had been a week ago. Jannah looked around at the group. Right in front of her sat Ben, or, at least he had been sitting. Now he was sprawled out on the ground as Rey had been, but he was fully asleep with his mouth hanging open and everything. Jannah giggled at the sight as she took in the rest of the group, all of whom were engaged in some sort of distraction technique. Some were sleeping as Ben was, others were picking at the grass or gazing up at the cloudless blue sky.

“Kaydel’s meditating.” Jannah observed, pointing her out. Kaydel sat farthest away from Jannah and Rey at the front of the group. Her back was facing them, blond hair pulled back into two braids.

“She’s just trying to show up Ben. Come on Jannie, I want to watch the forms.” Rey pleaded. Jannah gave her most patronizing look to Rey, who was undeterred. Glancing at their group again and seeing that no one was looking at them in the back, Jannah rolled her eyes and stood up. Rey leapt to her feet, pumping one arm into the air in victory. She grabbed Jannah’s hand and pulled her up the hill at a run. 

The clearing ran out quickly, and they found themselves in grass higher than their waists. Rey was clearly attempting to avoid the pathway, which would have taken them through a cleared section of grass. Instead they tore through the tall, swaying strands of grass that were turning growing more yellow by the minute out in the sun.

“I’m getting all dusty.” Jannah complained, but Rey took no notice. She was aiming for the top of the hill, from which their entire school could be viewed. The tall grass was on their side of the hill, the opposite side covered in rocks and dirt. As they neared the crest, the girls slowed down to avoid being seen. 

Jannah was sweating, she could feel beads of it dripping down the back of her tunic. When Rey turned around, Jannah could see the strands of hair near her face were plastered to Rey’s cheeks, and her ponytail was damp. Rey motioned for Jannah to get low.

Both girls dropped to the ground, crawling forward to a lookout point that had been frequented by them and countless other before. At the change on the hill from grass to rock stood a set of boulders, spaced out enough to provide both cover and a vantage point. Jannah and Rey pressed against each other to look out onto the space below them.

In the shadow of the school temple stood the class about to graduate into the order of the Guardians. As one, the group moved through their forms. It was like a dance, but in reality it was a more complicated form of group meditation. Through the Force, they all reached out to each other and visualized the movement of the group. There were seventy-seven forms in all, and each had to be done in sequence.

Jannah and Rey had no experience with learning forms yet, it was something that they would practice as they grew older. But they both recognized the group below to be about halfway through the sequence. Jannah squinted, “Did we miss it?” She asked.

Rey shook her head, “No, I don’t think so. It’s in the last ten forms.” Waiting for them to get to the most exciting bit was no problem. The girls stared open mouthed at the graceful movements below them.

“That’s what I want to do most of all, I think.” Jannah said dreamily, imagining herself going through the forms. Rey gasped dramatically to draw a laugh out of Jannah, “Just forms Jannie? What about all the cool Guardian stuff? I mean the end of forms are cool, but the really _really_ cool part is the protection.”

“You need to know the forms before you can call on the Force to help with protection though.” Jannah reminded Rey. Protection of the sacred spaces for the Force, as well as the crystals of kyber were a large part of being a Guardian. Many sacred spaces were unoccupied, including the mountains of Yersaid, with Guardians standing nearby to keep unwanted visitors away. On Yersaid, this included the younger students trying to sneak a peak at what exactly a sacred space looked like. As for kyber, its usefulness was known only to the Guardians. Some of Jannah’s classmates suggested that kyber acted as a signal of sorts for the Force, but none of them really knew why it was considered sacred as well.

“But you’ve heard about what Master Ifu is doing, he’s trying to forge kyber into a tool for the Guardians!” Rey proclaimed excitedly. Jannah was unimpressed, Master Ifu was not known for his wisdom.

“You won’t need a tool, you can talk to the Force on your own.” Jannah reminded Rey, who made a noncommittal noise that told Jannah the subject would come up again.

“Look! They’re doing it.” Rey pointed downhill excitedly. As one, the older students going through forms shifted from two bent knees and leaned to one side, straightening a leg. Their extended arms moved from one side to the other, leaving one extended and one bent by their chests. The group exhaled, and lifted their arms up.

Slowly, the rocks at the base of the hill started to rise into the air. Jannah heard Rey’s sharp intake of breath next to her, no matter how many times they snuck up to watch this fantastic use of the Force it still felt as exhilarating as the first time.

The rocks below lifted up to about four feet in the air, hovered for a minute, and then were lowered gently back to the ground by the group. As they finished, Rey snatched a smallish rock from in front of them and scurried back a few steps. Jannah turned to look at her with a bemused expression, “What are you doing Rey?” She asked.

Rey shushed her, and took the both legs bent form that the older students had practiced below. She then carefully shifted her weight to one leg, bringing her arms around one straightened and one bent to her chest. Then Rey screwed up her face with a look of the deepest concentration and effort, and raised her arms in an attempt to use the Force. After a moment she squinted one eye open to check the rock, it lay unmoving on the ground.

Jannah laughed as Rey dropped the form with a huff, “Well you try it then if you think I’m so funny!” Rey said, gesturing towards the rock. “You have to go through all the forms first.” Jannah reminded her friend, but she stood up anyway.

Looking at the rock, Jannah pictured it rising up into the air as the ones at the base of the hill had done. She went through the same two forms as Rey, then carefully and deliberately lifted her arms up.

The rock was still for a beat, then it began moving strangely, as if struggling to get off of the ground.

Rey exclaimed in shock and Jannah dropped the form quickly, breathing as though she’d just sprinted up the hill. The both stared at the rock, then looked at each other. A smile broke out on Rey’s face, “Did you see that Jannie? You made it move!”

“I just pictured it moving, and it didn’t really go up…” Jannah said, turning to look at the rock again. Had this ever happened to anyone before? Surely the older students and masters could use the Force before going through the forms sometimes.

“Hey!” A voice called from down below, breaking Jannah out of her shocked state and causing Rey to jump. It was Master Yuli, he’d spotted them from the bottom of the hill. Jannah had a mind to turn herself in, but Rey took her by the hand and pulled her at a run down their side of the hill. They laughed all the way back down towards their classmates, all of them turning to look at Jannah and Rey return with shock on their faces. They sat back down in their spots at the back of the group.

Rey resumed a meditative posture, probably to try and fool Master Yuli on his inevitable quick return. Jannah sat down as well, but her mind was too active to achieve meditation again. How in the world had she been able to make that rock move? She’d call it her imagination, but Rey had been there and seen it too.

To quiet her mind, Jannah’s thoughts moved to her brother as usual. She hadn’t seen him in two years, and missed him terribly. Jannah focused on a happy reunion at the end of her training, and was still lost in thought when Master Yuli finally appeared with a mean look on his face.

“Alright, who was up at the top of the hill just now?” Master Yuli asked, to the silence and stares of the young group still sitting on the ground. Jannah wasn’t worried, her classmates would keep quiet for her and Rey, as they had done for other members of their group multiple times before. It was a time honored tradition at the Academy of the Guardians to keep the secrets of your classmates. Snitching was highly frowned upon.

Perhaps Master Yuli remembered this, because his pale face went beet red. His highest display of anger. “Up! All of you!” He shouted. Jannah and her classmates jumped to their feet as Master Yuli pointed in the direction of their dormitory. 

“If you’re so eager to avoid your lessons, you’re done for the day. I don’t want to see a single one of you until morning movement tomorrow. Is that clear?” Master Yuli exclaimed, dismissing them. Scurrying towards the main path to the dormitories, the group walked in silence for a moment. Rey walked next to Jannah, they avoided each others gaze for the first half of the walk. But when Jannah looked to her left, she caught Rey’s grin. Jannah gave her a gentle shove, and the girls laughed once again as they continued down the path with their friends.


End file.
